Bristol Riverside Theatre may have just closed the curtain on its 2022-23 mainstage season, but it’s not wasting any time in preparing for a fresh lineup of productions to mark its 37th year.
Co-producing directors Ken and Amy Kaissar recently announced that, starting in October, the 2023-24 season includes The Mystery of Irma Vep, A Christmas Story: The Play, Big: The Musical, A Raisin in the Sun and The Second City’s Comedian Rhapsody.
For 2022, the main goal of the Kaissars was to focus on humor and lightheartedness. With the exception of the Keith Baker-directed Cabaret, which finally enjoyed a full run after its early shutdown in March 2020, the season certainly achieved this thanks to shows like Chicken & Biscuits and Clue.
As for 2023, the overarching theme, said the Kaissars, is nostalgia.
“There are a lot of pieces that people think they may remember, but maybe don’t quite as well as they think they do,” said Amy.
“It’s a really cool season for us because it’s the third season of planning for our audience. I feel like we are settled in now. We know our audience in a much better way,” added Ken. “I feel like we’re really able to tailor the season to give them something for everyone that they’re really going to enjoy.”
The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam, on stage Oct. 3-22, is a two-hour campy horror-comedy that tells the story of a murder mystery involving a vampire, werewolf, mummy and princess. Amy was thrilled to announce that BRT veterans Danny Vaccaro and Charles Osbourne are starring, and will complete over 30 costume changes in order to portray eight different characters. The play, directed by Victoria Rae Sook, was devised as a witty satire of several genres, including Victorian melodramas, the farce and the penny dreadful.
Next up is Philip Grecian’s A Christmas Story: The Play, running Nov. 28-Dec. 31 and based on Jean Shepherd’s beloved 1983 holiday film. Directed by Amy, the show follows Ralphie Parker as he relives his childhood memories of Christmas in 1940s Indiana, plagued by a tormented host of family, friends and one troublesome Santa.
The third show is Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, on stage Jan. 30-Feb. 18, directed by Lisa Strum. The story follows the Younger family, a three-generation household living in a crowded, old apartment in Chicago’s South Side. An unexpected financial windfall gives the Youngers the opportunity to rise out from poverty and into better lives, but they struggle with each member’s conflicting ideas of how to best use the money. A Raisin in the Sun allowed Hansberry to be the first African American woman to have a show on Broadway in 1959.
“We’ve been waiting for years to do [this show],” said Amy. “We’ve been trying to get the rights since we first got hired. I think it’s one of the best plays ever written in the English language.”
Ken is directing John Weidman’s Big: The Musical, on stage March 19-April 14 and based on the hit Tom Hanks film from 1988. Josh Baskin hates being a scrawny 12-year-old, but when a rusty arcade machine magically grants his wish to be grown up, he discovers that there’s more to being an adult than he bargained for.
“Big takes me back to my childhood, when I saw that movie. It was life changing for me and an iconic movie for me,” said Ken. “So I’m delighted to sink my teeth into it.”
If anyone is wondering if the unforgettable keyboard scene will be brought to life on stage, Ken had good news.
“That is in the play. We’re working hard right now to solve that problem, that’s thrown our production people for a loop, for sure,” he said with a laugh.
Closing out the season is The Second City’s Comedian Rhapsody, on stage May 14-June 2. This tribute to sketch comedy and improvisation features rising stars from Chicago’s oldest ongoing improv comedy theater. The Second City has kickstarted the careers of Tina Fey, Steve Carrell and other comedy icons, serving as a direct pipeline for the cast of Saturday Night Live. Comedian Rhapsody offers audiences the chance to see these comedians and tell their friends, “I knew them when.”
“Everyone’s telling us how much they enjoyed laughing for the last show of the season this year with Chicken & Biscuits, so we’ll send them off laughing with The Second City,” said Ken. “It’ll just be a great, complete journey from beginning to end that we are really excited about sharing with everybody.”
According to Amy, BRT has seen a recent increase in families attending shows together. Therefore, the selection of Big and A Christmas Story were intentional, as there’s something in each for all ages.
“Everybody in this building gets excited by the idea of kids discovering through theater what we all discovered through theater,” said Amy, whose mother began bringing her to shows at the age of 2. “If you grow up in Bristol, in a town this small with a theater this big, it should be part of your common experience growing up. Part of your birthright should be seeing theater. It’s tricky to find the pieces that are right for kids that are also right for the majority of our audience who are not bringing kids. It has to work at both levels and there’s not an abundance of those shows. So when we can find them, it’s really exciting.”
As always, each of BRT’s productions will offer guests special pre- and post-show engagements, included with the price of the ticket. There will be Opening Night receptions, Friday Festivals, Wine Down Wednesdays and Thirty Thursdays. Single tickets and season subscriptions are available at brtstage.org or 215-785-0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe St.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
